


Peace Lily

by peachbees



Series: unchained melody 'verse [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Domestic, Fluff, Gardens & Gardening, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-11-13 08:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11180691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachbees/pseuds/peachbees
Summary: Han crosses his arms and can’t help but grin. “You are, by far, the weirdest person I’ve ever met, you know that?” he asks, shaking his head. He hopes that Luke understands that it’s his dry, clumsy way of saying I love you.(Or, the one where Luke convinced Han to buy him an entire tree from Home Depot)





	Peace Lily

**Author's Note:**

> hello!! ♡( ◡‿◡ ) i've been away for a while with finals and stuff, but i'm back now and i'm ready to start writing again! i thought this would be a nice little slice of life, and a peek into han and luke's relationship before the babies came around! it's just a short little domestic ficlet, but i'll post some longer pieces soon!!! 
> 
> thank you so much for reading, and if you have any ideas for things you'd like me to write for this au, please let me know in the comments!! ( ´ ▽ ` ).｡ｏ♡

“Is it just me, or does this feel hideously domestic?” Han asks as he pulls into their driveway. Luke has been nodding off against the window, letting the sun warm his cheek through the glass as lazy, half-lidded eyes watch the world go by. He always looks so relaxed in the summer--soon, he’ll be falling asleep outside on the porch swing or on the wicker sofa and waking up with sweet cinnamon freckles dusted over his cheeks and shoulders. Han gives him a nudge. “Huh? Aren’t we domestic and gross?” 

 

Luke lifts his cheek from the window with a drowsy smile. He nudges Han back with his shoulder. “Yeah. We are.” He runs a hand through his hair and rolls his shoulders back to stretch them. “Oh. We’re home.” 

 

“Oh. We’re home,” Han teases, which earns him another playful little shove. He pulls the keys from the ignition and gestures to a plastic glass sitting in the cupholder between him. It’s already slick and cloudy with condensation and the telltale green straw has Luke picking it up immediately. 

 

His eyes light up. 

 

“You got me Starbucks?” he asks, letting the cold moisture from the cup soak into his dry palms. He stares at the bright pink liquid and the blackberries floating towards the top. “Berry hibiscus--my favorite.” His eyelashes flutter as he takes a sip. The sweet, crisp taste hits his tongue and wakes up his whole mouth. “Thank you.” 

 

Luke looks so pleased whenever he gets a present that Han has to physically fight himself from buying him something every time they go out together. 

 

Han leans forward and gives him a loud, wet kiss on the cheek. “Don’t mention it.” When he feels Luke smiling, he leans forward and kisses his lips too. “C’mon. You’re the one who wanted this garden, so help me get all this shit outta the back,” he adds as they climb out of the car. 

 

The trunk of Han’s ancient Ford Falcon smells like a greenhouse in all the right ways, and looks like one too. They’ve packed so many types of flowers in here that Han could barely see out the back windshield as he drove them home. The back seat, too, is filled with flowers. They’ve even got plants in the  _ cupholder _ s _ , _ and Luke rode home with one in his arms and another between his feet.

 

“Let’s get the houseplants inside first,” Luke offers, balancing a medium-sized leafy plant with a single white flower sprouting from a tall stem. He waddles towards Han and offers it to him. “I got this one for you--it’s a peace lily, and it’s pretty much indestructible, so you can’t kill it.” He can only see bits and pieces of his boyfriend through the leaves. “Pretty good for a first plant! Just be careful where you put it--even the pollen could make Artoo sick.” Although Luke trained him well, Artoo still likes to snoop about every now and again. 

 

Han lifts the lily out of Luke’s arms with a grunt and holds it to his hip. “I’ll put by the sink,” he offers as he jingles his keys in his free hand. “Wanna grab the little ones and get the door?” 

 

Luke’s already loaded one arm up completely with several fat, waxy little succulents in colorful glass pots. “Sure.” He grabs the keys with his good fingers and starts heading towards the door. “I think if we put the hydrangeas around the front, and have the Japanese holly lining the walkway, that could be nice,” he rambles as he strolls up that very walkway up onto the stoop, “And I think if we potted up some of the petunias, we could put those up by the door? And when we go back, I think I wanna get some window boxes and maybe put some pansies in there?” 

 

“We’re going  _ back _ ?” Han asks in disbelief, following along behind him, “How many plants are we talkin’ about here? We won’t be able to walk anywhere!” Still, he already finds himself swaying towards getting some window boxes. Once he redoes the shutters because they’re all chipped and totally ancient. “I don’t think I knew how much work a garden was when I signed up for this.” 

 

Luke pushes the door open with his shoulder and leans against it to hold it open for Han. “So that’s a no to growing our own food?” he teases, but he’s not really joking. Okay, so maybe they really should’ve taken this a little slower, but as soon as he’d seen the flowers at Home Depot, he’d known that he had to have as many as they could fit into Han’s car! “Sorry. I got carried away.” He pushes the screen door closed once Han and the lily are inside. “It’s just exciting--I mean, it’s our first garden together and I just want it to be  _ perfect _ .” 

 

Han carries the lily inside and sets it on the kitchen counter by the sink. Artoo’s claws click across the floor as he scampers over. He kneels down and catches the rambunctious French bulldog in his arms. Just a little while ago, Han would’ve wrinkled his nose at the idea of letting a dog lick all over his face, but now it just makes him hide his lips and laugh.

 

“Aww, look at my boys,” Luke comments with a lovesick little smile as he sets the succulents on the table, “You know, you two didn’t like each other when you met.” Artoo had sniffed and growled and woven between Han’s legs to try and trip him--and sometimes, Luke had wondered if Han was gonna growl back. Now, the three of them share one bed. 

 

“I still think you should’ve gotten a pet rock,” Han teases as he lifts Artoo out of his lap, “But I don’t know how good those are at emotional support.”

 

As soon as Artoo’s little paws hit the ground, he’s yapping and running towards Luke, jumping all over him to convince him to sit down on the floor with him. 

 

“Hi!” Luke sits and kisses Artoo’s soft little head. He rubs his ears gently in greeting. “Hello! Yeah, I know, we’re home, isn’t that exciting--oof!” Artoo launches himself into Luke’s lap and nearly knocks him over, showering him with kisses. 

 

Han’s never seen anyone have a bond like the one Luke has with his dog (and no, he’s  _ not  _ jealous of an  _ animal _ , thank you very much). He usually follows Luke everywhere like a fuzzy little shadow, but a dog plus a car full of potted plants and  _ dirt _ is an accident waiting to happen. Han leaves them to reunite as he heads out to the car again to bring in more plants. 

 

“A tree,” he mutters to himself as he stares at the cherry blossom sapling taking up the most space in his trunk, “How the hell did he convince me to get a fucking  _ tree _ ?” Where are they even gonna  _ put  _ it? A tree. Ridiculous. And yet, Han’s willing to buy Luke an entire forest to put in their backyard just so he can see him smile. Obviously, Han’s got it bad--he’s shacked up with Luke in this perfect new house, and he’s making cookies with his  _ dad  _ for a living now, and he just went out and got him an entire botanical garden, but he’s standing here, standing at this fucking tree, and it hits him like a ton of bricks: he’s got it really, really,  _ really  _ bad. 

 

Han leans forward and lifts the sapling into his arms. 

 

And he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

 

He passes Luke at the door and leans over to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Where do you want this?”

 

“Oh, could you put that on the deck for me, please?” Luke asks as he lets Artoo out into the front yard, trusting that he won’t go too far, “We can figure out where we want to put it after lunch.” 

 

“Okay.” Han feels the pot slip in his arms a little and he grips it even tighter to keep from dropping the whole sapling. “You’re the boss.” After all, Luke’s the one who knows all about flowers and gardens and shit. Han couldn’t even babysit Hera’s  _ cactus  _ while she and Kanan were on their honeymoon. He carries the tiny sapling through the house and sets it down on the back deck. “Welcome to your new home, little guy…It’s my new home too.” It’s his  _ first _ home. Sure, he’s had  _ places _ . He’s had futons and couches to crash on, and even the occasional bed, but he’s never had a  _ house _ . He’s never had a  _ home _ . And now he has a bed, and a fridge that’s always filled with food, and a backyard with a garden and a new tree.

 

And he has a  _ family  _ too. Sure, he’s always had his friends, and they’re like family to him anyway, but now he has a boyfriend (partner? Are they there yet?),  and a mom, and a dad (and a business partner), and a sister he never really wanted but is stuck with anyway. 

 

Luke wraps his arm around his shoulders. “Hi.” 

 

Han glances over at him and grins. “Hi yourself.” 

 

“Here.” Luke pulls a leaf off of the small plant and holds it up to Han’s face. “Eat this.” 

 

“Uh…” Han takes the little leaf and rubs his thumb over it. It’s got an almost scaly texture, and it’s a dark, deep green. 

 

Luke gently pinches one of the stems and pulls off a leaf for himself, popping it into his mouth. “It’s okay. It’s just mint. I got some basil too.” He chews slowly and just savors the taste of it. “When I was a kid and my uncle would babysit us, he’d always give us mint leaves from his garden.” One time, Luke and his sister had matching stomach bugs, and Uncle Obi-Wan took a day off from the children’s hospital to help their father take care of them; he sat by their bedsides and took their temperature, and gave them crisp, cold mint water to soothe their stomachs. Luke wonders, with a swell of hope, if he’ll ever give his own children fresh mint. 

 

Han watches him skeptically before accepting the leaf and taking a tentative bite. He chews on it for a while as he heads back to the trunk to grab the first of four rosebushes. This one is a dark pink, and it’s a lot smaller and lighter than he would’ve thought. 

 

“Those ones mean appreciation and gratitude,” Luke informs him as they pass each other. Han stops and waits as Luke picks up the red roses, “And I think you know what these mean.” 

 

Han knows, because the first time he ever presented them to Luke, all sweaty-palmed and awkward and wondering what the  _ hell  _ he was doing, the kid had gone on a forty minute ramble about what different colors of roses signified. Now whenever Han sees a rose somewhere, he grins at the memory of how Luke waved his hands excitedly to decorate his story about how the ancient Chinese planted roses in their imperial gardens over 5,000 years ago. 

 

_ “Every living thing in the world has a language,” Luke had told him with a sparkle of something almost like magic in his eyes, “You just have to tune into yourself, and then you’ll understand other beings.”  _

 

He always makes it sound so easy, being in touch with yourself, with the Earth, with the cosmic powers that be, whatever...But Han just can’t wrap his mind around it. 

 

“How about we put them...over here for now?” Luke offers, setting the red roses down by the fence, “We can start with the red, and then get lighter--like a gradient, you know?” 

 

“Like a gradient,” Han chuckles, ducking his head, “You’ve really got an eye for this kinda thing, don’t’cha?” Luke seems to have an eye for every beautiful thing in the world, especially things that someone else might not even lend a passing glance; he sees beauty in rocks, and trees, and even the bugs that he’s not afraid to pick up and put outside. But with all his talent with flowers, and crystals, and rocks, Luke still can’t see the most beautiful thing in Han’s entire universe. 

 

Unless he looks in the mirror. 

 

Luke takes the pink rosebush from Han and kisses him on the cheek. “Once you know what the flowers need to grow, it’s easy to give them what they need,” he explains as he sets the pot down on the freshly laid topsoil and kneels down next to it. His hand is so heart-achingly gentle as his fingers gently brush over one of the flower’s petals, “It’s like they’re telling you what they want.” His eyes crinkle at the corners as he smiles. “You just have to listen to them.” 

 

Han crosses his arms and can’t help but grin. “You are, by far, the weirdest person I’ve ever met, you know that?” he asks, shaking his head. He hopes that Luke understands that it’s his dry, clumsy way of saying  _ I love you _ . 

 

“You talk to your car,” Luke protests as he stands up, “And you dip your fries in your milkshakes.” He takes even steps towards Han and stands on tiptoe, draping his arms around his shoulders.

 

“Yeah, well, everyone talks to their car, A, and secondly, you liked it that one time, so check and mate.” 

 

Luke smiles even wider. “And you shuffle your socks off in your sleep,” he adds, “And you sing in the shower.” 

“ _ You _ color code your Froot Loops and eat them in rainbow order,” Han points out, “And you do this thing I  _ really  _ like when I do this…” He reaches up and gives Luke’s nose a little tap, laughing when he immediately scrunches it up. “See?” 

 

Luke smiles and shakes his head. “ _ You _ have this really cute thing you do when  _ I  _ do  _ this _ ,” he explains as he brushes his thumb over the scar on Han’s chin. It’s one of the only scars on either of their bodies that’s not solemn to touch. Sure enough, Han takes his hand and kisses it. “So you’re just as weird as I am.” 

 

Han pretends to bite Luke’s hand, and lets out a long, loud laugh when Luke rips it away with a teasing smile. “Come on, weirdo, let’s get the rest of these flowers unpacked.” 


End file.
